Cinco: New Memories
by corneroffandom
Summary: Spud's Halloween is going very poorly. Then he gets an invite to a Halloween party by a new friend.


A.N: This is grossly late. No really good excuse for it, just been busy preparing for NaNoWriMo and it is what it is. So I hope no one minds a really late Halloween fic!

Spud doesn't like this. England isn't much for Halloween and he's alone in his Red Inn, gritting his teeth and trying not to freak out as loud, drunken blathering comes from the rooms on either side of his. Earlier, he'd hidden in the dark, hands over his ears as kid after kid came to his door in weird costumes that made no sense to him- shapeless yellow blobs and weird pony-like ensembles. He had no candy, struck dumb and having to duck quickly as some annoyed child dressed like Pikachu slung his candy bucket at Spud's head, the man slamming the door shut and leaning against it just to catch his breath.

"When will it end?" he moans, digging his knuckles in his eyes and hoping for a respite soon. He yelps as his phone rings loudly, frazzled blue eyes rolling this way and that. "Now what?" he all but whimpers, hand shaking as he grips at the receiver and answers it hesitantly. "Hullo?"

There's a pause then a vaguely familiar "Hola?" on the other end. "Spud? This is Ricardo Rodriguez."

Spud's eyes light in recognition as he slumps down his wall, sitting on the floor and picking at the frayed threads under his fingers. "Oh! Hullo, Ricardo. My apologies, it's been a long day." He cringes as more loud music and rough voices come from the left, scrambling away just to find more of the same on the right. He pinches his nose, wishing he could go outside for some air, but those kids might be lurking around and... yeah, no. "I'm sorry," he says, a pathetic kind of flush darkening his face as he realizes Ricardo had been speaking. "If you said something, I missed it."

"No problem," Ricardo says, calm, welcoming. "I was just saying we're having a small Halloween party over here and I was wondering if you'd like to come."

"Oh, I don't know-"

"You won't have to do anything, just tell me where you're staying and I'll send an uber to come get you," Ricardo insists. "He'll bring you right to our door and you can just sit back and relax. You don't have to be social here either. I know..." His voice fades, starts to sound strained. "I know you don't know anyone, so we won't force you. You can just eat, and watch some bad Halloween movies and do whatever you want. How's that sound?"

Spud swallows. Closes his eyes and feels the music from both sides rocking through his walls. "Fine," he says quietly. "But I don't have a costume or anything. I... I'm just... going to be me."

"That's more than enough, trust me," Ricardo says, smile blatant in his voice. "Where are you staying?"

After he gives his address and they hang up, Spud paces. Considers what he'll do if all of that was just a trick, if Ricardo was pulling some sort of a prank on him. Runs his fingers through his hair, wonders what exactly an uber is. Had been too startled and desperate to get away from the racuous parties on either side of him to question much of what Ricardo was saying. He's wearing shorts and a red underarmor shirt, bandage over his mostly healed head wound. Picks at the clothing, considering changing but- he has nothing better, or more appropriate. I mean, he's a clueless 19 year old who's never been to America before.

He closes his eyes and picks at his lips, despairing over all of his life decisions, when his phone goes off again. He jumps and grabs for it. "Hu- hullo?"

"Hey, I'm your uber, special instructions said to call this number when I arrived. I'm outside waitin' on ya, so whenever you're ready."

"Oh. Of course," Spud says, looking around quickly. The only thing he thinks he might need is his wallet- a deep brown leather thing his parents bought for him before he left- and then heads for the door after checking to make sure the strange keycard he now has for his hotel- when did they stop using regular keys anyway? New technology that America has is truly boggling his already taxed mind- is in its folds. He blinks upon finding an average car, sleek and shiny, parked outside of his room. "Oh," he mumbles anxiously, forcing an awkward smile at the driver as he slips into the backseat.

"Hey, man. Just sit back and get comfortable, traffic's kind of annoying tonight but we'll get ya there in plenty of time," he promises. "Any music preferences?"

"Oh, uh, no, thank you," Spud says, overwhelmed by all of this. He stares out at the passing scenery, digging his fingers into his thighs when they start traveling through a part of town where there's nothing but old brick houses, stretching out high into the sky, Halloween decorations all over the place.

Within ten minutes, Spud finds himself sitting in the uber parked outside of a gate, the driver reaching out to press a button at the gate. "Hey, this is the uber you hired." Within seconds, the gate grinds up and Spud swallows, finding himself staring at another huge house that somehow seems to put every other one he's seen tonight to shame. "Damn, man, you got some impressive friends, huh?" Spud flushes, shrugs. Reaches for his wallet, trying to remember how much money he has, but the uber driver waves him off. "Don't worry about it, pal. Your buddies in there already paid.

"Oh," he says, stuffing his wallet back in the pocket of his shorts. "R- right. Um, thank you."

"Yep. Happy Halloween, man."

"Happy Halloween," Spud echoes, relieved to get out of the car and face the house that seems to be swallowing all of the sky before him. He's never felt so small in all of his life as he does in this moment.

He's still frozen there when the door opens and Ricardo peeks out, face lighting up when he sees Spud. "Hey! There you are, I heard the car and thought you decided to ditch us when you didn't come in." He steps outside and smiles. "Are you alright?"

Spud nods. Then shakes his head, frowning. "I'm... honestly not sure. There's... a lot going on." He eases into Ricardo's touch when the other man rests his hand on Spud's back. "How many people are here?"

There's a flash of sadness in Ricardo's gaze but he blinks and it's gone, or Spud's imagined it, something. "Well, there's me, my significant other, Alberto Del Rio, our friends Zack Ryder and Dolph Ziggler, Heath Slater and Wade Barrett, Robbie E and Zema Ion..." He hesitates, searching Spud's face for some reason before announcing the final name. "Ethan Carter III."

Spud makes a face. "I've seen him on TV. He's that body guy, right?" At Ricardo's nod, Spud rolls his eyes skyward. "He doesn't get it," he mumbles, allowing himself to be guided inside. It's only when he's inside that he appreciates what Ricardo's costume is- "Hey, you're Bret Hart!" he exclaims, feeling even lamer without a decent costume as he examines Ricardo's dark wrestling tights, jacket, and of course the sunglasses that Bret gave him all of those years ago that he kept as a rare good memory from his time in the WWE. Now curious, he peeks into the room where he can hear voices to see what everyone else is dressed as. "Um, who's who?" he breathes out, a little overwhelmed by the cluster of men sitting on the various couches and chairs scattered around the room.

Ricardo smiles, the tinge of sadness back briefly, before he guides Spud deeper into the room, pointing each person out in turn. "Alberto," he says quietly. "He's _trying_ to compliment my costumes now, at least a little. He is dressed as Chimaera." He rolls his eyes and just smiles when Spud looks confused. "Zack Ryder, he's... his usual costume. A ghostbuster." Ricardo laughs fondly. "There's Dolph Ziggler next to him. I guess he's a meme," he says, giving Spud a minute to take in the long haired man with a shirt that simply reads "I'm a sexy meme".

"Uh, sorry to interrupt, but what exactly is a meme?" Spud asks, brows furrowing as Ricardo tries to explain something about the internet and things going viral, and... It all goes over his head, so Ricardo returns to the introductions.

"Heath Slater, ... still dressed as Santa," he laughs, pointing out the ginger. "I believe he tried to get Wade Barrett next to him to dress up as Rudolph." There's a red reindeer nose hanging from Wade's crooked nose and Spud blinks a few times.

"I see," he murmurs, jumping at a sudden warm body behind him. Before he can even turn, Ricardo eases him back as if sensing his discomfort.

"And I'm what I am every year," Ethan Carter III says, leaning close to him and sneering. "Rich." He reeks of alcohol, another beer held loosely in his slack fingers, and Ricardo hisses out a sigh.

"Sorry about him," he offers. "He's... not had a great year."

"But you still invite him to these things?" Spud wonders.

Ricardo nods, lips twitching up into a sad smile. "Yeah," he says quietly. "And there's Robbie E and Zema Ion," he finishes up the introductions. "They're dressed like cowboys."

Somewhere along the way, Robbie notices them and, at the cowboy line, nudges Zema. "Hey, Ricardo! Bro, I said we're from _Brokeback Mountain!_ Come _on!_ "

Ricardo exhales, rolling his eyes. "Alright. Whatever. They're cowboys from Brokeback Mountain."

Spud's face starts to feel a little warm at this though he's not entirely sure why. "Uh, what exactly is Brokeback Mountain?"

Ricardo freezes, looking over at him awkwardly. "Oh." He coughs into his fist. "Right. 2002." He runs a hand through his hair, almost dislodging his sunglasses entirely. "Uh, well, I guess you'll find out in 2005," he chirps overly cheerfully before excusing himself and returning to Alberto's side for a moment before going to a table covered in drinks and snacks.

Spud is still standing there, unsure what to do or where to go, when he feels that drunk, Ethan, lurking behind him again. He turns slowly, watching Ethan stare down at him. The way his eyes are scoping out every inch of Spud's body... he shivers. "What do you want?" he asks, trying to sound stronger than he's felt in... well, forever.

Ethan's lips part, form a word, before his eyes sharpen, the attempt at speech lost before he clears his throat. "I see your little friend abandoned you." He motions into the room. "They're just watching movies between trick or treaters. Wanna sit with me? There's plenty of room."

Spud grimaces at the mere mention of trick or treaters, reluctantly tagging after Ethan, figuring no children would be allowed near the stumbling, alcohol drenched man. Not that Ethan was kidding, they have the entire couch to themselves and Spud sits awkwardly for a few minutes before realizing Ethan's barely paying attention to him, focused on the overexaggerated screams and violence on the huge screen before them.

This helps him to relax, his eyes slowly focusing on the TV as well. A woman on the screen, running through a forest, breathing heavily and clearly trying not to scream. She keeps tripping on branches and wrecking her own forward momentum, her ankle clearly hurting as she starts to limp, tears pouring down her face. The more suspenseful the music gets, the more panicked Spud feels, his fingernails biting into his pants and when he looks over, Ethan is staring at him, brow furrowed in worry. He feels like he's experiencing deja vu, reliving something that he can't even remember if it's something he's actually experienced, or a dream... or maybe some odd side affect from his head injury. He chokes on thin air and shakes his head, Ethan still staring at him. "Wha- what is it?" he forces out, surprised when Ethan reaches out, rests a hand on his.

"You're ok. We're safe here." Beyond the booze, he's calm, reassuring.

Spud feels all of the tension leave his body. "I believe you," he says quietly. "Why do I believe you?"

Ethan's smile is sad, not too different from the look on Ricardo's face at times. "I guess I just have one of those faces," he says quietly. They stare at each other for a few moments before returning to the movie. The longer the movie goes, the closer they come to a final resolution for all of the targetted characters, the closer Spud finds himself to Ethan. "You ok?" Ethan asks him quietly, hesitantly reaching out for him and wrapping an arm loosely around his shoulders, easing him over to rest against him.

"Tired," he sighs. "It's been something of a long day. My motel isn't exactly... upscale with its clientel." Ethan chuckles a little and Spud huffs. "It's not funny, they've been throwing parties for hours, and kids came and banged on my door for candy and I don't bloody _carry_ candy, so I barely got out of there in one piece, and..." He grimaces, closing his eyes as he presses his face against Ethan's shoulder. "I don't want to go back there tonight."

Ethan rubs a lazy circle between Spud's shoulderblades. "Well, I guess you're in luck. We're all staying at this house tonight. There's plenty of room. Isn't there, Ricardo?" he calls out, the man easing away from Alberto long enough to look over at them. "We're all staying here tonight, right? Include Spudsy here?"

"Yeah," he says. "You're all invited to stay tonight." He smiles at Spud before allowing Alberto to turn his face back towards him, resuming kissing him.

Spud watches them with a mixture of feelings before turning to look at Ethan. "A lot of this feels so familiar," he mumbles. "And I don't know why. Do you ever feel like that, Ethan?"

"Yeah," Ethan exhales. "I feel like that a lot." He stares deep into Spud's eyes for a few moments before cupping his face and easing down to kiss him gently, on the side of his mouth.

Spud gasps and closes his eyes, digging his fingers into Ethan's hand before arching up into him, shifting to kiss him back. "What is even happening?" he breathes, pulling away and touching his lips with a dazed look on his face. "I don't even _like_ body guys."

Ethan smirks down at him, strokes his hair. "I know you don't, tiger. I guess you just always make an exception for me."

Spud frowns up at him, confused and intrigued and so many other emotions that he's not sure what to say. _Tiger?_ Before he can think of anything significant, the room falls dark. He blinks and looks up, realizing that the movie's over. Ethan holds his breath as they change to another horror film that seems very similar to the last, just in a different setting with other vapid characters that seem to be racing to see who could die the faster in the stupidest possible way. "Huh."

Ethan chuckles. "I get the feeling we're going to be here awhile," he says, squeezing Spud's arm carefully.

Spud thinks about this for a few moments and then shrugs. "I think I'm ok with that," he says, easing back into Ethan's touch and trying to keep track of the movie between random, unexplainable urges to kiss the infuriating man next to him.

In the middle of the second murder of the movie, the gate buzzer goes off and Spud tenses up. Ethan stares down at him as he watches Ricardo's entire face light up as he eases away from Alberto and grabs a bowl full of candy. Ethan examines his face before pushing him away. "Come on, you'll want to see this," he says softly, getting off of the couch and tugging Spud up with him. He's a little tipsy but not as terrible as Spud expected, the two of them get outside without any huge mishaps and they find Ricardo surrounded by a group of children all chattering happily, a little girl dressed like Wonder Woman, a boy dressed similar to the yellow monster that Spud had seen back at his hotel, and a number of other costumes he doesn't really recognize.

"Oh," Spud mumbles, trying to hang back. "I don't know." But Ethan tugs on his hand, guides him forward and soon enough he finds himself next to Ricardo, surrounded by the children.

They beam up at him and Ricardo laughs. "Children, this is my friend, Spud."

"He has a bandaid on his head," Wonder Woman chirps. "Is that part of his costume?"

"No," Ricardo laughs, smiling over at Spud. "He was injured, sweety. But he's doing a lot better."

Spud's parents had told him about the severity of his head injury but he wasn't sure of the scope of it until this moment. He looks from Ethan to Ricardo, back to the house, and thinks about how familiar but not everything seems. Once all of the kids have their candy and they're gone, he looks at Ricardo. "You were my friend, weren't you, Ricardo?"

Ricardo's smile is sad again and he nods. "We _are_ all still your friends, Spud. Even Robbie."

It's unfathomable and he shakes his head, staring at Ethan, who's very still, very tense. "You're not my friend."

"I was a lot of things to you," he finally admits. "Friendly wasn't exactly a word I would use most of the time, no." Spud swallows at the heat in his gaze as they stare at each other, lost in the moment as Ricardo eventually takes his leave to give them some privacy.

"I wish I remembered more," he mumbles.

"I wish you did too. Sometimes." Ethan stares at him. "But you're probably better off without remembering the worst parts of... everything."

"But that means I also can't remember the best parts of them either." He eyes Ethan up and down before walking closer to him, examining him quietly. "I do like when you kiss me though."

"Then I guess I'll continue doing that," Ethan mumbles, easing his mouth over Spud's and kissing him right there under the full moon peeking through the clouds, a soft breeze tickling over their skin.

They return inside in time to see the end of the movie, and the start of another, but Spud falls asleep in Ethan's arms barely before the first murder, and Ethan holds him for awhile until he starts to worry that the screaming and general bedlum of the movie will wake him. He eases Spud back against the couch and stands, scooping him up smoothly. "Any particular room he should sleep in?" Ethan asks Ricardo quietly, and he pulls away from Alberto, who shoots an impatient look at Ethan, standing up.

"I'll find you one," Ricardo says, Alberto's face only growing more mulish as he leads the way down the hall to the bedrooms. "The bedroom next to yours is free, he can sleep in there and... if there's a problem or... anything, you'll be near him to help." Ricardo smiles knowingly at Ethan before pushing the door open, standing in the doorway and watching as Ethan pulls the sheets down and gets Spud under them, pulling his shoes off and tucking him in properly.

Ethan nods and heads out of the room, shutting the door quietly. Before Ricardo can slip back into the living room to watch more crappy horror and listen for more trick or treaters, Ethan grabs his arm and stops him. "I just... want to say thanks. I know every year we do _something,_ even if it's just a weird haunted house, or whatever, but you stepped up and made this a quiet year so we wouldn't overwhelm Spud too much and it... it means a lot to me. I'm glad he has a good friend like you."

Ricardo nods. Pats his arm. "Don't worry, Ethan. He'll have his memory back before you know it, and all of this will just be a small detour for you guys. He seems to like kissing you, so that's a promising start."

Ethan laughs helplessly at this, his eyes turning back towards the closed door keeping Spud from him. "Yeah, true."

Ricardo pats him on the back. "Come on. Let's let him sleep, we'll get you some water, and watch some more crappy movies before we all pass out. No Wednesday morning hangovers on my watch."

Ethan smirks. "You're no fun."

 _"I_ am not making Sofia wash up your mess in the morning," he corrects him, eyebrow raising when Ethan hesitates.

"Touche," he gives in, lips twitching up into a smile. "I guess both Spud and I are lucky." When Ricardo gives him a strange look, he clarifies, "To have a good friend like you."

Ricardo flushes a little, grabbing Ethan a glass from the kitchen cupboard and getting out the pitcher of ice cold water from the fridge. "Yes, you are," he finally recovers, grinning when Ethan releases the first sincere laugh Ricardo's heard from him in months. "Happy Halloween, Ethan."

Ethan swallows down some water and tips his glass at Ricardo. "Happy Halloween, Ricardo."


End file.
